Timing mechanism.



B. C. BATGHELLEB TIMING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, i909. 1,()87,630 Patented Feb.17,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

"WEN T019 v MQN j aww Y B. O. BATGHELLER.

TIMING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1909.

Patented Fb.17,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

B. G. BATOHELLER.

TIMING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1909.

Patented Feb..17, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Wig-i358? Q55 m iam I B. G. BATGHELLBR.

TIMING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1909.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

n a S BIRNEY C. BATCHELLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TIMING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 23, 1909. Serial No. 509,144.

vices particularly adapted for use in pneumath: despatch tube systems.

The object of the invention is to provide such a system with a simple, efieotive and reliable timing mechanism for controlling the motor employed for supplying air to the transit tubing of the system, in such manner as to insure the operation of the motor for a definite time interval after the insertion of a carrier into the transit tubing.

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention however and the advantages possessed by it, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which 1 have illustrated and described forms in which the invention may be embodied.

()t the drawings: Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the use of one form 0 my invention in a transit tube system. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a contact mechanism employed. Fig.2 is a partial inverted sectional plan taken on the line 2 of Fig. 2. Fig. iiyis a plan of the timing mechanism proper of Fig. 1. Fig. l is a section on the line et--t of Fig. 3, and Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams, each illustrating a different modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

Referring first to the arrangement shown in 1 to t inclusive, A and A represent two of the generally similar sections of the transit tubing of a pneumatic despatch tube system. Each of the sections A. and A has carrier admission and discharge provisions at its opposite ends. The admission provisions A for both sections and the discharge provisions of section A only are shown in the drawings. In the system shown the carriers. are transmitted by compressed air supplied to the section A from I the air compressor or pump 13 through the side of the shell -K.

When the magnet K is energized, the

pipe A. From section A, the carriers in section A is passed to the latter section through the pipe A. Itwill of course be understood that the pneumatic despatch tube system supplied with air by the pump B may include more sections of transit tubing than the two sections A and A shown.

The ,pump B is driven by an electric motor air for moving I C, receiving current under conditions hereinafter explained from the supply conductors 1 and 2. The supply of current to the motor C 1s controlled to properly. start and Patented Feb. 17, 19 14.

stop the motor by a rheostat controller 1),

controlled in turn by a switch E, the opening and closing of which is contrie lled by the Z V I novel timing device scribe.

The device G includes a casing G having a removable top G and inclosing gearing connecting the electric motor H with a.

clutch mechanism hereinafter described. In the form shown in Fig. 1 the motor H is'in constant rotation. The motor H is mounted on a. bracket Gr (see Fig. 4) projecting from the front of the casing G and the shaft H of the motor projects into the casing G and carries worm H meshing with and driving a gear G secured to a shaft G The shaft tfl'carr'ies a worm gear Gr meshing with and G which I will now dedriving a gear I carried by a shaft 1 which extends parallel to the motor shaftH and projects through, and is journaled in the front wall of the casing G Without the casing G3, the shaft I ing an annular groove bearing-member I. Beyond the disk I", on an extension I of the shaft 1 are loosely mounted a member J, having a disk like body portiom a disk like armature K, and a spring pressed follower sleeve 1". The fol! .lower sleeve 1 is at all times pressed against. the armature K by a spring 1 the outer end of which bears against nuts I adjustably threaded on the shaft extension 1 To brackets G and the casing G is secured the shell K" of an ironclad elect'romagnet, the shell K being provided with an annular-cavity 1( sur rounding the shaft extensionI. ll ithin the cavity K is placed a magnet winding K the terminals of which are secured to winding posts K projecting from the front projecting from carries a disk li havreceiving an annular.

IOU

is prevented. As

armature K is drawn toward it, overcoming the spring I, and the member J is then free to move into the position shown iuFig. l, which it does under the action of a weight J sliding in the casing The weight J 2 is connec ed to the member J by a flexible member or cord J which partially encircles the disk like body of the member J, the latter being provided with a groove J t in which the cord J is received. An arm J of the member J en ages the bracket. G to prevent movement or the member J under the influence of the weight J beyond the position shown in Fig. 4E. When themagnet winding K is deencrgized, the spring I through the follower T and armature K, presses the member J against the hearing I oi the disk I with such force that the member J is rotated with and by theshat't I" in the direction of the arrow applied to Fig. 1 until the rotation of the member J in this direction is stoppedin the manner .in which I will now describe.

The arm ll of the member J is provided with a lug which, when the member J is moved into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, engages a bridge'piece G which is flexibly supported by bowed resilient conducting strips G secured to a contact G mounted on an insulating support G secured to the front of the-cas1ng G by the adjustable arm G. The support G the bridge piece G it forces the latter to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 until the contact strips G electrically connect the contacts Gand- G and further movement to the left of the bridge piece G is clearly shown by Figs. 2 and 3 the contact G is rabbeted and has one surface G against which the end of the contact strip 6}, which is free, contacts, and has another surface G against which the contactstrin G secured to the bridge piece G}? contacts when'the' circuit is fully closed. The surface G? and the contact st which engages it serve in a well known ri l nner to prevent arcing from taking place between the surface G and the other eontai'ct'strip. The. frictional couplin between the dish Fiend the member J t th fnaember- J to remain the'winding It. is again energized, without interfering with the rotation of the shaft 1 whichis continuously drii en in the same direction by the constantly runnim i, otor H.

At each of the transmitting sta ions i a switchmechanisn L is provided, which. serves to connect a correspondin pair of stationary until branch conductors 17 and 18 w ienever a carrier is inserted in. the transit tubing at that station for transmission, The branch conductors l7 and lSare. connected to conductors 19 and 20, respectively. The con ductor IQis'connected to t' supply eon I also has secured to it a contactG and when the arm J engages en yields to permit stopping mechanism,

Loaaeso jminals K" of the winding K The other terminal of the winding K is connected to supply conductor 1 by a conductor 22. The terminals of themotor H are connected to the supply conductors 1 and 2 by conductors 14 and 15, the latter conductor including a suitable resistance 16.

From the foregoing it will be understood that whenevera carrier is inserted at any station A the winding K is energized and the armature K is moved toward the winding to release the member J from its frictional engagement with the disk I, and that the member J is then returned to the position'shown in Fig. 4, regardless of whether the member J- had been previously moved fully into. or only partway toward the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. The speed of the motor H is so chosen and the gearing between it and the shaft lt'"'is so arranged that the movement of the member J from the position shown in full lines inFig. 4 to the position shown iudotted l1nes in Fig. 2 requires a time interval durinr which the pump is in operation, amply su%cient to move the carrier last lnserted to ,the end of its journey. 'l/Vhere the invention is used, as in the transmission of majil, in what are known as large tube sys tems, this interval may be about our minates. It will of course be apparent that if a second carrier in inserted while a. previc usly inserted carrier is in transit, the member J will be returned, from the intermediate position into which it has been moved, back to the position shown in Fig.

4. In consequence, when carriers areginserb edwith sufiicient frequency, the member J may be prevented during long intervals from moving into the dotted line'position of Fig. 2, but whenever the period following the insertion of the lastcarrier is suliicient to permit member J to be moved from the L full line position of Fig. s ints, or more accurately slightly beyond; the dotted line position of Fig. 2, the contacts {3' and G are then connected and the motor 0 is stopped, thus preventing useless eirpenditure of energ there is no need for such operation.

I will now describe in detail the particular mechanism disclosed by which the timing device serves to stop and start the motor C, but I wish it to beunderstood that any suitable kind of motorsta'rting and stopping mechanism, of which manykindsare. now known; may be used, and that the exact character of the motor starting and proper, diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1 forms no feature of the present invention. ,7

The switch E is carried by the armature or core E of a solenoid magnehthe winding contacts G and G by the switch I).

J of which has one terminal connected to the supply conductor 1. The other terminal is connected to the contact G. The contact G is connected by a conductor 12, including a resistance 13, to the supply conductor 2. .Vhen the contacts G and G are connected together by the conducting strips or switch members G winding E isenergized and switch E is opened, and

when the contacts G and G are disconnected, winding E is deencrgized and the switch E drops into the closed position. Attention is called to the fact that while the-contacts G and (i are closed by the slow movement of the" member J, produced by the rotation of the shaft 1, the contacts G and G are disconnect ed by the rapid movement of the member, caused by the weight J This rapid "movement of the switch connecting has an obvious advantage in preventing injurious sparking between the contact G and the conducting strips G nected by theswitch E when the magnet E is deenergized, is connected by conductor 8, including a resistance 9, to the supply conductor The other terminal of the switch E is connected by conductor 7 to one terminal ot' the solenoid magnet coil D of the automatic rheostatic controller D. The second terminal otcoil D is connected by a conductor 6 to the supply conductor 1. The core or armature D of the coil D is connected by a link D to the switch arm D.

The latter travels over a series of contacts 1) connected by resistances D One terminal of the motor C is connected by conductor -5 to supply conductor 1, and the other terminal of the motor is connected by a conductor -,t to the switch arm D. The upper contact I) is connected by a conductor-5 to the supply 1*] bridges connection between conductors T and 8 and the winding 1) is energized,

and the switch arm D is first moved intb engagement with the lowermost contact D't,

thus connecting the motor to the supply conductors 1 and 2 through all ofthe; resistance D and then the resistances D are i cut out, one after another, as the switdh arm 1) continues to move upward. A dash pot D, or like retarding device may be connected to the switch arm I) to regulate the speed at which the resistances D are cut mt.

in the arrangement shown in Figs. l to 4. inclusive the driving shaft 1 of the timing mechanism is coiistantlyrotated by the motor II but this is not necessary in all cases and in Fig. 5 I have shown in diagram a ort-ion of a. system identical with that-of Fig. 1 except that the conductor .15 and resistance 16 are replaced by a conductor 151 connected to one of the terminals, controlled In this case the circuit of One of the two terminals con-- ,latte'r cannotrotate the motor.

conductor 2. hen the switch is energized and in consequence the motor H does not run exceptwhcn it. is desired that the motor C should 'also rotate.

In Fig. 6 I have a system like that ot- Fig, 1 except that the auxiliary small motor H and circuitconnections therefor are dispensed with and the shaft- I is driven by the motor C through suitable connections which, as shown, comprise the shaft M and the meshing gears C and M and M and 1", gear C being secured to shaft C of motor C, gears M and M to shaft Ivl, and gear I to shaft 1. In Fig. '6 the disk K and the electromagnet and the disk I are transposed with respect to the position occupied by these elements relative to the disk J, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4:. Where the rotation of the shaft 1' is not continuous but intermittent as in Figs. 5 and 6, the arrange: ment must of course, be such that the member J will not start to reverse its direction of rotation and thereby permit the breaking of the connection between'contacts G and G when the meter driying shaft 1" is stopped. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1-4 inclusive the character of the gearing between the shaft 1 and the motor H and particularly the worm and wheel connection between sh ft 1 andG is'such that iwhile the motor l ican rotate shaft 1' the In Fig. 6 the friction of the. connected mechanisms including the motor C and the air pump B prevents the backward rotation of the member J when the motor C is open circuit d. V \dgith the arrangements shown in Figs. 5 and 6 I avoid any waste of current used in driving the timing device when the motor C is not required to operate and with the arrangement of Fig. 6 i avoid the neeessity for any auxiliary motor ;I may say 1 however that in general I prefer the arrangement of Fig. 1 on account ofgthe certainty and reliability of operation obtained thereby.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the'timingmechanism disclosed is compact, durable, efi'ective and reliable,and well adapted for the particular purpose for which it is designed. By operating the timing device electrically I avoid the necessity of providing any tank or tanks for the storage ot' fluid under pressure such as would be necessary if a fluid ressure timing device were employed and have the advantage of a constant and reliable source of power.

It will be a parent also to those skilled in the art that't is ble of use, either in whole or in part, in other relations than the one shown. Y

Certain features of construction and a r rangement of the timing mechanism distiming mechanism iscapa closed herein are claimed in my application Serial No. 679,969, filed February 26th, 1912, as a division of this case.

Having no'w described my invention, what I claim as new and desire t secure by Let tcrs'Patent is-' V 1. In a pneumatic despatch tube systein,

' the combination-with a transit tube, of'an sertion of a carrier in said transit tubing for temporarily disconnecting said member from said shait at the time of said msertlon,

and provisions effective Whenever said memher and shaft are disconnected for moving Inapneumatic despatch the said member into a second position from which it may be thereafter returned to said one position by said shaft,

tube system, combination'with't-he transit tubing, of

an air moving deviceianelectricmotor for driving it, a source of current, and a timing mechanism for starting 'and stopping the motor, said timing mechanism comprising a driven shaft, :1 switch actuating member adapted to be connected to said shaft 'and moved thereby from one position to a second M position, a switch mechanism engagied by said member and operated thereby 0 dis connect said motor from the source of current when the member is in said second position and to connect it to the source of current when said member is out of said second position, means adapted to be actuated'on each insertion of a carrier in the transit tubing for disconnecting said member froni said shaft at the time of such insertion and means for then returning said member. to said one position.

$3. In a pneumatic despatch tube system",-

the combination with the transit tubing, of an air In Wing device. an electric motor for driving; ii, a source of current, and a timing mecl'iaitis'i for starting and stopping said motor, said timing mechanism comprising a second motor constantly connected 'to said source of current and constantly driven thereby, a switch actuating member adapted to be connected to'said second-motor and moved thereby from one position to a second 1 position, a switch mechanism controlled by said member and operated thereby to disconnect the first mentioned motor fromthe source of current when said member is near said second position and to connect it-to the source of current when said member is out of said second position, means adapted to be actuated on each insertion of the carrier in the "transit tubing for disconnecting said incur her from said second motor at the time of such insertion, and means for then returning said member to said one osition.

6t. In a pneumatic despatci tube system,

the combination With'the transit tubing, of

actuating it, a timing mechanism comprising in combination a member constantly rotating while said motor is in operation, an actuating member, means tending at all times to yieldably, connect said members together, whereby the first member will move said actuating member, a switch mechanism controlling said motor arranged to be on gaged by the actuating member lifter a predetermined movement thereof away from ment of said member away from saidinitial position, electi omagnetic means, actuated each time a carrier is inserted in said tubing, for disconnecting said members, and

to saidinitial position when so disconnected, said switch mechanism serving to stop the motor when engaged by said actuating inembe'r and to maintain it in operation at other times.

5. In a pneumatic.despatch tube system the combination with the transit tube, of an air moving device a motor for driving it and a timing mechanism for starting and stopping the motor, comprising a. driving member constantly rotating while said motoris in operation, a motor controlling member movable back and forth between two positions and serving "to stop said motor when in one of said prisitions, While eiiecting theoperation of the motor when, out of said one'position, a return mechanism tendin to move said member from said one position into the other of two said positions, said two members together, said coupling means being yieldable to permit said controlling member to stop when moved into means for rendering said coupling means in operative.

6. In a pneumatic despatch tube system, the combination with the transit tubing, of an air moving motor, a timing mechanism comprising in combination a second motor, an actuating member, means for connecting said actuating member and second motor whereby thelatter will'move said actuating member from an initial position into a s'e'cend position. means adapted to be actuated on each insertion of a carrier in the transit tubing for disconnecting said second motor and actuating member and means for returning said actuating member to said initial position when so disconnected, and controlling means for said air moving motorfmaintaining the iatterf in operation when said an initial position and prevent further movemeans for returning said actuating member means normally coupling an air moving device, an electric motor for said timing mechanism 'said'one position, and-intermittently acting actuating member is away from said second position tut operated to stop said air moving motor by said actuating member when the latter moves into said second position.

7. In a pneumatic despatch tube system the combinationwith the transit tubing of an air moving motor, a timing mechanism, comprising in combination a second motor, an actuating member, means for yieldably connecting said actuating member and se ond motor whereby the latter will move said actuating member from an initial position into a second position, means adapted to he actuatedwin each insertion of a carrier in the transit tubing for disconnecting said second motor and actuating member and means for returning said actuating member to said initial position when so disconnected, and controlling means for said air moving motor maintaining the latter in operation when said aeutating member is away from said second posit on but operated to stop said air moving mo )'1 by said actuating'member and serving to stop the movement the latter when it moves into said second"position.

R. In a pneumatic despatch tube system, the combination with a transit tubing and a transmitter through which carriers may be inserted in said tubing at successive intervals each less than the period of time required for moving an inserted carrier through the tubing, of an air moving device for causing the inserted carriers to passthrough said tubing, a motor for operating said device,

and controlling means therefor adapted to start the motor, if stopped, When a carrier is inserted, to maintain it'in operation after that carrier insertion or any subsequent carrier insertion until the interval of time following any carrier insertion and during which no subsequent carrier insertion made exceeds said period, and to stop the motor when said last mentioned interval exceeds said period, said controlling.means in-- cluding a timing mechanism iomprisrng an I electric motor, separate from the first mentioned motor, as its actuating device and provisions operated on each carrier insertion for setting said timing mechanism.

9. In a pneumatic despatch tube system, a. carrier transmission tube provided with a receiving terminal, means for establishing a carrier propelling current of air in said tube, a timing mechanism for starting and timing the operation of such means, said timing mechanism normally operating. after each setting thereof for a substantially de-' termined period and including a'power driven motor, an actuating member having a bias-for an initial position into which said member moves whenever set or reset and when so moved starting said first mentioned means, and means for connecting said actuating member and motor whereby the latter will move said actuating member from said initial position into a second position, and means acting. upon said connecting means and controlled from said receiving terminal whereby said timing device is set oneach insertion of a carrier, and isimmediately reset for the transmission of a second carrier inserted before said mechanism has ceased its.

normal operation resulting from the preceding carrier insertion.

' BIRNEY O. BATCHELLER. Witnesses: M. P. MORGAN,

G150. J. MURRAY. 

